Rose Hill Manor Field Trip, Pt. 2

After we finished our open-fire popcorn snack, we headed out the kitchen door and into the glorious sunshine. (This was one of the few early-April days we had here that were warm--actually, it was hot! Upper 80's, I think!) This was the view of the gardens, etc., from behind the kitchen--so pretty:

Friends in our group, strolling to our next location...

...which turned out to be this tiny log cabin!

The cabin isn't native to the property; they moved it there from somewhere else as they began transforming Rose Hill into a museum. I'll tell ya, the juxtaposition of the manor and the one-room cottage is quite striking, especially once you learn that the couple who owned the cabin had six children!

The fireplace/hearth area, the big bed, and the table. That was about all there was to the cabin. There was also a half-loft, where I presume some of the children must have slept. We moms all agreed that these living quarters made us freshly grateful for our suburban homes, cramped as they may feel to us!

Matthew loved trying out this wooden yoke, for carrying buckets of water.

He wasn't satisfied just to try it on, either; he had to walk it across the room.

'Course, I imagine if I lived in one room with seven other people, I might be volunteering to take walks with that yoke all the time!

Our next stop was the blacksmith's shop.

There is a real blacksmith who has his own working shop nearby (so cool!), and he comes and demonstrates his smithy skill when Rose Hill has a festival. But the blacksmith wasn't in the day we visited, so Miss Peggy showed us the bellows (and other equipment).

The kids checking out some old horse shoes: (Good grief, they're heavy things! Glad I'm not a horse!)

Meg's best buddy, cutie-pie Madison:

Examples of blacksmithery:

Our final destination was the ice house. I never realized before that an ice house was built over a deep hole in the ground--the insulation of the cool underground earth was what kept the ice all year. Miss Peggy said that the Rose Hill ice could last from the time they cut it (deep winter) straight through to the next November. Wow.

Fake block of ice suspended over the pit:

The function of the ice house, however, was much less intriguing than the black snake we found there. We had heard from the other tour group that we could expect him, but when we first went in, no one could spot him. It wasn't until Matthew and Madison mistook him for a tool or a rope and almost picked him up that we discovered his hiding place.

Non-poisonous snakes don't bother me much, but it's always a little freaky when you don't realize one's there and then suddenly--something is moving just inches away from you!

This root cellar was also inside the ice house.

After our tour, I took a couple last pictures...

...and we had to go. I'll tell you what, though, my kids absolutely LOVED this place and cannot wait to go back. They have several festivals throughout the year, and I believe the entry is free except for a nominal parking fee. It's worth checking out if you live near Frederick!